Saturday, November 12, 2011

Sambhar recipe

Spices entered in India 400 years ago and at the same time onions, potatoes and tomatoes were introduce by western settles. The date of introduction of spices shows that native of India was cooking their curries and vegetables without these spices. But the word sambar is found in their cuisine history that means collection.

Sambhar recipe is the specialty of Southern part of India. It is very spicy food that is liked by all the vegetarians. Its flavor, taste and aroma make this traditional dish irresistible. Its aroma attracts the entire family members, who may visit the kitchen while you are cooking it. It is very helpful dish for those who have planned to reduce their weight. It has minimum fat as few tablespoons are used in it. The good addition of vegetables makes it healthy diet with desired nutritious value. You know, 188.7 g of sambhar recipe has 152 calories. It has Saturated Fat 0.2g, Trans Fat 0.0g, Cholesterol 1mg, Total Fat 1.2g, Total Carbohydrates 25.5g, Sodium 437mg, Dietary Fiber 13.5g, Sugars 2.0g, Protein 11.1g, Iron 22%, Vitamin A 65%, Vitamin C 8% and Calcium 4%.Ingredients for the sambhar
The ingredients of sambhar recipe are great in number so you should be very careful while preparing this dish. Different ingredients are used for different purposes like few are used for the formation of masala and some for tempering.

Toovar dal (one cup)

Tomato (one diced)

Onion (one chopped)

Eggplant (two cubed)

One drumstick (cut into four pieces)

Potato (one of cube shape)

Tamarind pulp (one tablespoon)

Salt (according to taste)

Ingredient for the sambhar masala

Kashmiri red chilies (six to eight in number)

Coriander seeds (one tablespoon)

Toovar dal (one tablepoon)

Chana dal (one tablespoon)

Urad dal (one tablespoon)

Turmeric powder (one teaspoon)

asafoetida (half teaspoon)

Oil (one teaspoon)

Ingredients for the tempering

Mustard seeds (one teaspoon)

Curry leaves (six in number)

Asafetida (quarter teaspoon)

Oil (two tablespoon)

Method of preparation

Pour the oil in frying pan, heat it, put all the sambar masala in it and roast them. The roasting aroma fills your kitchen. Keep the flame slow so that they do not burn and get black color.

Grind all these roasted ingredients in spice grinder or with pestle and put them aside.

Wash the dal, pour two cups of water in pressure cooker and add potato, drumstick, onion, tomato and eggplant. Let it cook.

Now add salt, sambhar masala, tamarind pulp and four cups of water and leave it for boiling. If you do not like too much sour taste, you can reduce the quantity of tamarind pulp. You can also increase or reduce the quantity of sambhar spices according to your desire.

To prepare the tempering, add curry leaves, asafetida and mustard seeds in the heated oil. When the seeds splutter, pour it into sambhar and let it boil for fifteen minutes.

Your dish is ready. You can serve it hot.

You can enjoy the taste of your dish with home made bread or plain rice.